Hart's Desire
by badly-knitted
Summary: John Hart will stop at nothing to get his hands on one of the most valuable gems in the universe. Set throughout Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Written for Prompt #017 – Avarice at fandomweekly.


**Title:** Hart's Desire

 **Author:** badly-knitted

 **Characters:** John Hart, Jack, Team Torchwood

 **Rating:** PG

 **Spoilers:** Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

 **Summary:** John Hart will stop at nothing to get his hands on one of the most valuable gems in the universe.

 **Word Count:** 1021

 **Written For:** Prompt #017 – Avarice at fandomweekly.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.

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OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

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Arcadian diamonds are among the most valuable gems in existence and John Hart wants one. Well, ideally he wants all of them, but for now he'll settle for one, and it just so happens he knows a woman who has one; he intends to take it from her, by fair means or foul. Well, by foul means really. John Hart doesn't do fair, it goes against his nature. Why work for something if you can simply take it?

Getting his hands on the treasure proves more complicated than he'd initially expected though. Obviously the owner wasn't just going to give it to him out of the kindness of her heart because he asked nicely, but killing her isn't enough either. She creates a Rift storm, which scatters to the four winds the canisters containing pieces of the map showing the diamond's secret location. Hart has no choice but to give chase; if he's to claim the gem then first he must find those canisters.

He thinks he's in luck when all three of the silver flasks are deposited on a planet unimaginatively named 'Earth' by its inhabitants. It's humanity's birthplace, which seems oddly fitting, and coincidentally the place his old partner in the Time Agency has washed up. Things are just getting better and better!

Unfortunately, the man Hart used to know, who now calls himself Captain Jack Harkness, has changed beyond recognition. Oh, he looks pretty much the same as he did back then, hasn't even aged all that much; he's as sexy and gorgeous as ever, but he's developed morals and a conscience. How inconvenient.

Nevertheless, John isn't worried; those very morals can be used against Harkness with a little judicious twisting of the truth. By telling him that the canisters are radiation cluster bombs, John ensures the cooperation of his ex-lover and the little band of pretties who work for him. Team Torchwood can't take the chance that he might be telling the truth, because if he is, the bombs he describes would do far more than merely level the city; they'd leave a huge, contaminated crater in the side of the planet, and then the fallout would be spread worldwide by the wind. That would probably spell the end of humanity, and cause a nasty paradox in the process.

With Torchwood's reluctant help, tracking down the three canisters is child's play, and taking them away from Jack's people is as easy as falling off a log. Okay, so he kills Jack in the process; he never did have much in the way of impulse control. It's a little disappointing since he'd hoped they could resume their relationship; they could have conquered universes together and had a blast doing it, just like old times only without the Time Agency's rules and regulations getting in the way. But the diamond is what really matters.

Back at the team's base, John gets another surprise; apparently Jack's not that easy to kill if throwing him off the top of a very tall building fails. He says he can't die, although when John had checked the body he'd certainly looked pretty damned dead. Whatever. It's a nifty trick, and one John wouldn't mind having up his own sleeve. Immortality is wasted on Jack.

The rest of the team look pretty pissed off too, maybe he should have finished them off when he had the chance, but it had been more fun at the time to play with them. No matter. What he came all this way for is finally within his grasp, plus now he'll have another shot at convincing Jack to go with him when he leaves. All that lovely money, and Jack too, would be the icing on the proverbial cake. Now all he needs is to consult the holographic map that will reveal where the diamond is hidden. X marks the spot; success is so close he can practically taste it, and his heart is beating fast in anticipation, but his hands are steady as he slots each section into its proper place.

Putting the pieces of the device together generates a hologram alright, but it doesn't give him the information he was expecting. Instead there's a message from the woman he killed, telling him the unthinkable; there is no diamond. John is stunned, it can't be true; everything he's done was for one reason only, to get that wonderful, sparkly Arcadian diamond and sell it. It would have meant unimaginable wealth, he'd have been set for life, anything he wanted his for the taking, but the bitch tricked him!

As if that wasn't bad enough, just when he thinks things can't get any worse, they do; seems like his good luck has completely deserted him. The device that delivered the hologram has a secondary purpose, as a personal explosive keyed to his DNA, and it latches on to his chest causing exquisite agony. He might almost have enjoyed it, except that the woman in the holographic image calmly proceeds to inform him that he has ten minutes to live, and any attempt to remove the small bomb will set it off immediately. Jack's pretty young eye candy looks positively smug as he starts counting down the seconds. Bugger. How could everything have gone so disastrously wrong?

In the end he escapes with his life, thanks to Jack's little team, even if it was only because he'd handcuffed himself to the gap-toothed woman in order to persuade the rest of the team that it was in their interests to help him. But his failure to get the riches he'd worked so hard for smarts. All that wealth snatched away at the last minute, and now he's being kicked off the planet without even Jack as a consolation prize.

"Oh, by the way, I meant to tell you. I found Gray."

It's kind of a cheap parting shot, despite being true, but Jack deserves it. Let him stew on that; maybe he'll be nicer next time they meet, if he ever wants to see his brother again. Jack hasn't seen the last of John Hart, not by a long shot.

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The End


End file.
